Dating Makes £3.6 Billion For UK Economy, Finds Research

Single people going on dates in Britain are helping the UK economy recover by contributing £3.6 billion to the wider economy, research has found.

The rising economic optimism seems to have encouraged Brits in their pursuit of love, as the economic boost from daters has soared by £200 million in comparison to 2012.

With nearly 37 million dates taking place each year, the average couple is estimated to spend £103 per date with variety of industries benefitting in a knock-on effect. The average dater spends £29.40 in restaurants and £18.86 in bars and pubs on a single date.

Daters spend an estimated £900 million a year at fashion retailers and beauty salons, £297 million on transport and £2.1 billion on entertainment, restaurants and bars. British daters' appetite for fun has spiked over the last year as the amount spent on entertainment is nearly £1 billion higher than in 2012.

In London, dating accounts for £880 million of consumer spending each year. In the South, Midlands and East, these figures are £700 million, £620 million and £250 million respectively. As an economic contribution, some 69% of all date related spending in the UK is spent in these four regions.

In the North and Wales, the average date costs just £88 in the North and £73 in Wales.

The findings came after a survey of 1,000 single British people by dating website match.com and extra research from the Centre for Economic Business Research (CEBR).

Cebr economist Daniel Solomon, main author of the report, said : “With just over three million active daters in the UK, there is no denying that their activity has a noticeable economic impact. Dating makes an essential contribution to the high street, directly helping a range of industries like retail, food and drink and entertainment.”

Karl Gregory, MD UK & Ireland of match.com, said: “Bars and pubs remain the most popular places to date, so we’ve launched match.com nights in partnership up and down the country to give our members more chances to meet a partner, whilst also trying a different venue.”